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THOUGHTS 



MEMORIAL OP 



jVtary WVtall Tt?orr?a5, 



BOH^ 1S3S, DIEU 1SQ8. 



ARRANGED BV 



E. T\ Q**@ A- B- T\ 

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AND 

:'stjed by Direction of Woman's Christian 
iori of Maryland, 



D. W. GLASS & CO., 

BALTIMORE. 






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COPYRIGHT 1888 BY 

Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Maryland. 



iy$ tit 



7 



PREFACE, 



In the great sorrow that fills our hearts, at the 
death of our dear State President, it is hard to 
realize that for her it is not sorrow, but fullness 
of joy. What we do realize with a sharp heart- 
ache is, that henceforth we shall see her amongst 
us no more. The gracious presence that was 
the fitting dwelling place of her bright, beautiful 
spirit will never gladden us again. She was our 
own ; every one of us felt that we had our own 
private right to her ; every one of us had known 
her sympathy in sorrow, the strength of her 
strong, cheery faith in hours of discouragement, 
the inspiration of her consecration to God and to 
humanity at all times. 

Some of us have still more sacred memories. 



4 PREFACE. 

Hers were the lips that first roused us to earnest 
purpose and to see the possibilities for which we 
were created; or we were sunk in despair, or 
wandering weary and blind, and she came with 
the message that Christ is able to save. Her 
brow, on which God's peace was written, and her 
lovely consecrated life sealed the truth of her 
words, and we gained courage to look up and 
seek the Saviour who had saved her. 

In this little book are brought together the 
thoughts presented by the various speakers at 
the Special Service, held during the State Con- 
vention; and with them we have reprinted selec* 
tions from the Memorial Number (August, 1888) 
of the White Ribbon Herald, As a fitting pre* 
hide, we also give Mrs. Thomas' last address to 
her fellow workers of the W. C. T, U.— the 
"President's Greeting" — from the first issue of 
the State paper. 



PRESIDENT'S GREETING. 

REPRINTED FROM WHITE RIBBON HERALD OF MAY, 

rSS8. 



Dear Sisters of the White Ribbon Army of 
Maryland, in sending out the first number of the 
White Ribbon Herald, you must allow your 
President to give each one of you a hearty greet- 
ing and to congratulate you that the long looked 
for day has come, when Maryland's Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union has a State paper 
Of its own. As the little paper comes to us 
month by month, bearing the news from every 
corner in the State, it will bind us more closely, 
and make us feel truly that we are fellow workers 
for God and home, and every land. 

We hope that the superintendents in all the 
Local Unions, and, indeed, that all of us may find 
suggestions in the paper which will be an inspir- 
ation to our work, and that our workers may also 



6 Thoughts Memorial of 

be able from time to time, as the needs in their 
different localities suggests methods of work, to 
give in the paper helpful hints and plans for ex- 
tending our usefulness. 

We must, dear sisters, give our earnest atten- 
tion to the work. The Lord has called us, and 
in faith in Him we shall have the victory. Re- 
member our motto, "This is the victory that 
overcometh the world even our faith." Let us 
never think of failure for one moment. 

Let me again say as I have said in my 
annual address to you last autumn, "It is thought 
that shapes and governs the world." 

"I hold it true that thoughts are things 
Endowed with being, breath and wings, 
And that we send them forth to fill 
The world with good results or ill." 

There has been, no greater purifier of the 
thoughts of humanity than our blessed Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, with our high- 
thinking Frances E. Willard at its head. 



Mary Whitai.l Thomas 7 

Men and women and children are being taught 
to think that the drunkard can be redeemed ; 
that the outcast can be reclaimed ; that our 
homes can be protected ; that our boys can 
be as pure as our girls ; that our nation can be 
freed from the dread liquor traffic, and that our 
politicians can be statesmen. It is our faith in Jesus 
Christ, our living, triumphant Saviour, that en- 
ables us to think these thoughts, and to impress 
them upon those around us. If He came to open 
the prison to them that are bound, and to set the 
captives free, we expect it to be done. If He 
came to make an end of sin and to bring in ever- 
lasting righteousness, we know that the liquor 
traffic must go, and that men must be pure 
and noble and good. 

Let us not waste our strength by dwelling too 
much upon the sin and crime and evil that seem 
to be entrenched so strongly in the body politic. 



8 Thoughts Memorial of 

Remember our Master's words, "Overcome evil 
with good/' It is said of charity, which is 
greater than faith, or tongues or martyrdoms, 
"Charity believeth all things and hopeth all 
things." '.'Believe then in the Lord, your God, 
so shall ye be established." 

Mary W. Thomas. 



Mary Whitaxl Thomas. 



SERVICES 

In memory of Mary Whitall Thomas, President of 
the Woman s Christian Temperance Union of 
Maryland, and Mrs. Mary C.Williams, Vice- 
President of the Baltimore City Union, 
were held in the 3L E. Church, corner 
Charles and Fayette Streets, Bal- 
timore, on Wednesday, 
October 3d, 1888. 



Mrs. H. M. Wilson, Vice-President, presided, 
and opened the services by reading from 

REVELATION 7; 9-17, 

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude 
which no man could number, of all nations, and 
kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before 
the throne, aud before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes and palms in their hands; 



10 Thoughts Memorial of 

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation 
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb. 

And all the angels stood round about the 
throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, 
and fell before the throne on their faces and wor- 
shipped God, 

Saying Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, 
and might, be unto our God forever and ever. 
Amen. 

And one of the elders answered, saying unto 
me: What are these which are arrayed in white 
robes, and whence came they ? 

And I said unto him, Sir, thou know r est. And 
he said to me, These are they which came out of 
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, 
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Therefore are they before the throne of God, 
and serve him day and night in his temple : and 
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 
them. 



Mary Whitaix Thomas. 11 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
heat. 

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes. 

And from joshua i ; 1-8. 

Now after the death of Moses, the servant 
of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord 
spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' min- 
ister, saying : 

Moses, my servant, is dead; now therefore 
arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this peo- 
ple, unto the land which I do give to them, even 
to the children of Israel. 

Every place that the sole of your foot shall 
tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said 
unto Moses. 

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even 
unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the 
land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea to- 



12 Thoughts Memorial of 

ward the going down of the sun, shall be your 
coast. 

There shall not any man be able to stand be- 
fore thee all the days of thy life : as I was with 
Moses, so I will be with thee ; I will not fail thee, 
nor forsake thee. 

Be strong and of good courage: for unto this 
people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the 
land, which I sware unto their fathers to give 
them. 

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that 
thou mayest observe to do according to all the 
law, which Moses my servant commanded thee ; 
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, 
that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou 
goest. 

This book of the law shall not depart out of 
thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day 
and night, that thou mayest observe to do ac- 
cording to all that is written therein ; for then 
thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then 
thou shalt have good success. 



Mary Whitau. Thomas. i;j 



PRAYER 

BY THE REV. ANDREW LONGACRE. 



14 Thoughts Memorial of 

HYMN. 

THY WILL BE DONE. 



Jesus, while our hearts are bleeding 
O'er the spoils that death has won. 

We would, at this solemn meeting, 
Calmly say, "Thy will be done." 

Though cast down, we're not forsaken ; 

Though afflicted, not alone ; 
Thou didst give, and thou hast taken : 

Blessed Lord, "Thy will be done." 

Though to-day we're filled with mourning, 

Mercy still is on the throne : 
With thy smile of love returning, 

We can sing, "Thy will be done." 

By thy hands the boon was given, 
Thou hast taken but thine own ; 

Lord of earth, and God of heaven, 
Evermore, "Thy will be done." 



Mary YYhitali, Thomas. 15 



MRS. H. M. WILSON 

Then Said : 

Dear Friends : — I need not tell you the nature 
of the service that we commemorate in this hour. 
Our loss has been all too real to us during the 
weeks that have elapsed since that summer day, 
when we laid our beloved away amid the flowers 
and the ferns, for she was dead. No sleep so 
beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so 
fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh 
from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath 
of life; not one who had lived and suffered death. 

Being dead, she speaks to-day through the 
various societies with which she was connected, 
and from each one comes a flower to weave into 
a garland immortal. 



16 Thoughts Memorial o£ 

A loved and honored Vice-President has also 
fallen from our ranks — Mrs. Mary Cushing Wil- 
liams, who, on the 7th of July, mingled her tears 
with ours, in our local memorial service for Mrs* 
Thomas. She has since been bidden come up 
higher, and hath entered in through the gates 
into the city, 



Mary WiuTAi.r, Thomas. 17 



MARY WHITALL THOMAS 



IN MEMORIAM. 



BY MRS. E. L. TATUM. 



I was thinking how glad I would be this morn- 
ing, if I could bring you some message fresh from 
the lips of her who was our honored President, 
and who still is ours, although she has been pro- 
moted to a higher charge, and has passed beyond 
our call. 

But if she could now appear here in our midst 
fresh from the courts of Heaven, with her shining 
angel face, only brighter in degree than when we 
saw it last, and her spotless garments, fragrant 
with the incense of Heaven, I believe she would 
have no new message for us, but would only re- 
iterate and enforce those we have already heard 



18 Thoughts Memorial of 

so often from her lips. I believe that the language 
of Heaven may be spoken in every vernacular on 
earth, and that we have many times heard its 
sweet spiritual utterances through the musical 
voice of Mary Whitall Thomas, as she taught 
us lessons of life, love and faith. We can prove 
our love for her, and more than that, our faith in 
the Redeemer she told us of, by gathering our 
strength where she gathered hers, and by loving 
service for her Saviour and ours, in every moment 
of our lives. 

To our white Ribbon Army, if she were here, 
I think she would reiterate, "The battle is not 
yours, but God's." "You have a captain that was 
never foiled in battle," and "With him for your 
leader, you must go on to victory." 

Sympathetic by nature as she was, in a large 
degree, the sad stories of real life had far mora 
for her, when there was a chance for her interest 
to help, than the most thrilling chapter of fiction; 
and so the temperance w r ork first enlisted her, for 
the sake of all the sufferers concerned, from the 



Mary Whitall Thomas. 19 

saloon-keeper and his immediate victims, down 
through the long train of destitute ones who fol- 
low after. As an outcome of this, she was one of 
the first to meet to form a branch of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, in the State of 
Maryland, and her interest in the work burned 
as a steady fire through the rest of her life. 

The words, "Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union," grew to mean to her, as to many others, 
not only the putting down of the liquor traffic, 
great as that would be, but they also meant total 
abstinence from everything that would poison the 
soul and degenerate the body. They meant, with 
our many departments of work, not only the up- 
lifting of our banner of peace and purity, in a 
general way, as a national standard, but that the 
principles it betokened should be taught in each 
home in our land, and spread from these home 
centres, in ever widening circles, like ripples on a 
stream, until they reach the utmost bounds of the 
world. This she saw typified in our local, coun- 
ty, state, national and international organizations, 



20 Thoughts Memorial of 

with our world's motto, "For God, and home and 
humanity." She loved all humanity because the 
Christ spirit filled her heart. 

Her spiritual sight had grown so clear by long 
years of steady gazing heavenward, that she 
longed to take the whole world by the hand and 
lead them to the spot where she stood, that they 
too might behold the glorious visions which she 
so clearly saw. To her, the things of what is 
sometimes called the unseen world, were far more 
real than the material things of earth. She could 
say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," and, 
"The things which we have seen and heard de- 
clare we unto you." 

Hers was a noble ancestry. She came of a 
long line — not of the titled in any earthly court, 
but of princes and priests in the house of Israel. 
And when she herself was born into the kingdom, 
she entered at once into joyful service for her 
Lord, and so fully realized the privileges of heir- 
ship that she soon bore the impress of royalty 
and wore a spiritual crown upon her peaceful 
brow. 



Mary WhiTAij. Thomas. 21 

We read in Rev. 12 : 4, of the saints in the New 
Jerusalem, that "His name shall be in their fore- 
heads." 

I think that hers had received the King's mark, 
while yet in the body of flesh. One could see 
that she was a daughter of the King, as she 
walked through the public streets, or went about 
her daily duties. 

From the time she was welcomed into life by 
her happy parents, to the day of her death, she 
lived in the sunny clime of an ideal home life. 
It was the genial atmosphere in which the perfect 
flower of her being expanded. 

When a child, her earthly father so entered into 
sympathy with all the joys and sorrows of his 
children , and so happily and wisely made life's 
lesson seem pleasant and attractive, yet earnestly 
to be studied and lived out, that it was easy for 
them afterward to love, trust and obey their 
Heavenly Father. 

Coming to Baltimore as a bride at nineteen, 
she built her home nest, woven of the brightest 



22 Thoughts Memorial of 

fabrics of her sunny nature, among a people she 
learned to love as her very own ; for whom she 
labored and prayed ; whose interest became her 
interest; and to whom she dedicated the best of- 
ferings of her life — the people of Baltimore, and 
indeed, of all Maryland — since there was no check 
to the outflowing of her loving interest wherever 
her acquaintanceship extended. 

To her, Prov. 31 : 28 was particularly appli- 
cable, "Her children arise up and call her blessed, 
her husband also, and he praiseth her." 

Any one that came within the charmed circle 
of her large household band must have seen that 
all that was brightest and sweetest and best in her 
nature, flowed forth most freely there, where she 
was worshipped by all. 

She wrote me last winter from her sick room, 
"I have had a de tig ktf hi I time since I have been 
in retirement. My family so sweet and lovely, 
and so helpful to me in every way. * * * We 
had a sweet Christmas : all my chicks around me, 
and all sweet. We had a lovely family meeting 



Mary YViiitali, Thomas. 23 

together Christmas night, fourteen of us." Her 
spirit departed while surrounded by this lovely 
family group, at her home at Blue Ridge Sum- 
mit, where she so loved to be, and grace was 
given those dear ones to speak parting words of 
cheer to her as she passed away. 

She believed that the perfect home life here 
typifies the holy one above, and this was one 
reason she was so anxious to make the wretched 
abodes she saw among the families of the drunken 
and destitute as bright with gospel sunshine as 
possible ; and this made her more anxious that 
our new State headquarters might be built, and 
used in the various ways it should be, as a 
training school for such home life. Her sympa- 
thetic nature was stirred to its depths with the 
suffering and sin she saw, and she pondered much 
over the best means to alleviate it. This she 
saw in the proposed headquarters. Her mind 
was much absorbed with this, even in the midst 
of the weakness and suffering of her sick room ; 
and when she was at the very gates of death, she 
summoned strength to add a codicil to her will, 



24 Thoughts Memorial of 

leaving an additional $500 to that already given 
by her to help on the building. So that, in the 
last sacred moments of her life, her heart still 
beat for the poor people of Baltimore, and with 
confidence in the work of the W. C. T. U. of 
our State. 

She gave herself so loyally and unsparingly to 
others, that I think the noble men and women of 
Maryland will surely see to it, that this last wish 
of hers shall be carried out, and that the temple 
of her dreams shall soon rise fair and high just 
where she wanted it. I am sure she would 
rather I would plead for it to-day than to speak 
words in memory of her. Memories of departed 
saints amount to but little if they do not stir us 
up to better deeds and higher living on our own 
part. 

A three-fold cord bound her to each member 
of the White Ribbon Army. It was "For God, 
and home and native land." That cord seems 
severed now ; but we know by the way our 
hearts still tremble at the sound of her name, that 



Mary Wiiitall Thomas. 25 

some invisible tie yet binds us to her spirit, that 
did not die when the beautiful, earthly tabernacle 
was shattered, and that we will clasp her hand 
when our forces re-assemble on the other shore. 
One more of our number, Mrs. P. C. Williams, 
has laid down her armor and gone to join her 
already. She too was gifted with rare Christian 
virtues, and has left a great blank in the place she 
filled so perfectly here. We can imagine the 
happy meeting of those friends, in Heaven. 

I think the sweetest, most powerful prayer I 
ever heard Mary W. Thomas make was at the 
closing of our convention last year, where she 
asked that love and wisdom and power might 
be given to us all, and that the overshadowing 
spirit might surround us. I could almost see the 
invisible wings of the angels then sent out to keep 
us through the year, and we have been kept and 
blessed. 

Although our leader attained a height far 
above the most of us, yet it is ?wt inaccessible to 
us, and like loyal soldiers, we should strive to 



26 Thoughts Memorial of 

follow where she led ; to plant our footsteps 
where she planted hers ; and go on to victory 
in that power that never can be exhausted. Ac- 
cording to our faith, so shall it be unto us. 



Mary Whitai<i< Thomas. 2? 

HYMN. 



ASLEEP IN JESUS. 



Asleep iti Jesus ! blessed sleep, 

From which none ever wakes to weep ! 

A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O, how sweet, 
To be for such a slumber meet ! 

With holy confidence to sing, 
That death hath lost its venomed sting. 

Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest, 
Whose waking is supremely blest ! 

No fear, no woe shall dim that hour, 
That manifests the Saviour's power. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O, for me, 
May such a blissful refuge be ! 

Securely shall my ashes lie, 

Waiting the summons from on high. 

Asleep in Jesus ! far from thee 

Thy kindred and their graves may be ! 
But thine is still a blessed sleep, 

From which none ever wakes to weep. 



28 Thoughts Memorial of 

Mrs. Ada C. Jewell, of Cecil Co., read the 
following resolutions : 

At a meeting of the State Executive Commit- 
tee, held July 7th, the following action was taken : 

Whereas, There has been taken from us 
our honored president and loved leader, Mrs. 
Mary Whitall Thomas, whose heroic faith, 
holy courage and warm devotion were ever our 
inspiration and strength. 

Resolved, That in her spirit we have ever 
the most beautiful illustration of the Spirit of 
Christ : in her life filled with the fruits of right- 
eousness and abounding in every good work the 
closest approximation to the Christly ideal, and 
in her death the consummation of that eternal 
life she had in Christ Jesus. 

Resolved, That out of the depths of our love 
and sorrow and loss, we yet bow to the Supreme 
will which was the law of her life, and we vvill 
seek to show our honor and love for her by deep- 
ened devotion to the Master and to the work to 
which she was wholly consecrated ; thanking 



Mary WiiiTAix Thomas. 29 

God for the rare beauty of that life, for the rich 
benediction of all her ministries in word and deed 
among us, and for the sweet comfort and help- 
fulness of our association with her. 

Resolved, That to the family she has left, we 
tender our warmest and deepest sympathy, in a 
peculiar manner sharing their sorrow while re- 
joicing in their hope. 

Mrs. G. B. Murdoch. 



At the annual meeting of the Baltimore Union, 
held Sept. 18th, 1888, the following resolutions 
were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, . It has pleased our Heavenly 
Father, in his infinite wisdom and love, to re- 
move from us another of our beloved co-laborers, 
Mrs. Mary C. Williams, 

Resolved, That whilst deeply mourning our loss, 
we gratefully recall her earnest interest in all the 
branches of the work, her consecrated spirit and 
her warm devotion to the cause. 



30 Thoughts Memorial of 

Resolved, That we tender to her bereaved 
family our heartfelt sympathy in their great sor- 
row. 

Sarah W. Tudor, 

Rec. Secretary. 

Mrs. S. Baldwin, on behalf of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, said : 

Fourteen years ago, my dear friend joined me 
on my way home from one of the first W. C. T. 
U. meetings held in this city, in Mt. Vernon M. 
E. Church. 

I remember how I talked of home duties, and 
how glad I was that I had a large family of little 
children and could not be expected to attend to 
outside duties, closing my remarks with the 
words, "Home work is so much more congenial 
than temperance work." "I can see her earnest 
look now, as her great, motherly heart seemed 
to wander into the many sad homes ruined by 
drink, as she thoughtfully said, "Yes, our homes 
and children are lovely, but are you willing to 
stay there and let all the rest of the world 
perish?" 



Mary whitall Thomas. 31 

These words lingered with me, and I felt con- 
strained to go to temperance meetings whenever 
I saw a notice of them. Not only did Mrs. 
Thomas inspire others to enter into the work, 
but she had also the beautiful gift of bringing to 
the front whatever was good in a person, and of 
encouraging every effort put forth in God's name. 

Indeed, she was most helpful to us all, for she 
was ever giving out some practical thought that 
would make us better mothers and better house- 
keepers, as well as better Christian worKers. She 
was deeply interested in everything that looked 
to the uplifting of women and girls, and spent 
much time in trying to secure better laws in their 
behalf. 

She was fully in sympathy with every depart- 
ment of temperance work, and tried to make it 
plain to each superintendent. There was no time 
in all her sickness that she did not seem glad to 
have me come in and tell her how our work was 
progressing ; and when I would say good bye to 
her, she would reply, "Come in whenever you 
can and tell me what is being done." 



32 Thoughts Memorial of 

She manifested the greatest interest in the 
building of our State headquarters. It seemed 
to be laid upon her heart, but sometimes she 
would say in hours of weariness, "I wish we 
might lay it aside." But believing it to be a 
thought from God to have this building, she pre- 
pared the plans and helped to write the appeals. 

She was sure that many wandering ones might 
be reached through these means, who never 
would enter a church, and to the very end of her 
life her thoughts turned toward it with never- 
failing interest. 

Our dear friend worked hard ; many times 
when I have called for her she would say, "I did 
not sleep until two o'clock. I was planning and 
writing, or preparing a Bible reading." Often 
I found her with some tired worker trying to ex- 
plain away some difficulty, or with some poor 
shipwrecked man, telling him there was hope for 
him in Christ Jesus, or with some forlorn woman, 
with whom she could only weep, or perhaps with 
some university student, trying to help him to 



Mary Wiiitali, Thomas. 33 

understand the higher Christian life. And thus 
was her life spent in active service for God. As 
has been truly said, "she had a heart at leisure 
from itself to soothe and sympathize." 

As I entered the room where we had together so 
often worked and planned, and looked upon her 
quiet, restful face for the last time, it did not 
seem to me that she was dead, but only gone on 
"to explore more sacred streams, and visit the 
diviner vales and wander among the everlasting 
Alps of God's upper province of creation. And, 
dear friends, although the windows of Heaven 
have opened and received out of our sight our 
loved one, we will work on, ever feeling for the 
hand of God, thanking Him for her beautiful life, 
which has been such an inspiration to so many 
hearts 

"Who hath not learned in hours of faith 
The truth to flesh and sense unknown, 
That life is ever Lord of death, 
And love can never lose its own. 

Juliet S. Baldwin. 



34 Thoughts Memorial of 

Mrs. G. H. McLeod, on behalf of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, read the following 
Memorial Poem : — 

CROWNED. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Mrs. Dr. James Carey Thomas. 



BY MRS. GEORGIA HULSE MCLEOD. 



"Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee 
a crown of life." Rev. ii: 10 

This time last year she was with us, 

Whose place is vacant to-day , 
No words can tell how we miss her, 

Since the morning she went away. 
In the early summer dawning 

She heard the sweet "Well done !" 
The voice of the Master calling, 

As "higher" he bade her come. 

Right fair was the earthly sunrise, 

From which she passed away, 
To the glad light of that City, 

Where evermore it is day. 



Mary Whitai,i, Thomas. 35 

A beautiful, beautiful record 

Of her staiuless life is left, 
To comfort the sad and lonely, 

Of her counsel so bereft. 

"How can we do without her?" 

Voices all over the land 
Are asking in hours of grieving, 

Our loving "White Ribbon Band." 
A sad, sad loss to the many, 

Who have loved her long and well ; 
Her smile was our welcome ever, 

How we miss her, none can tell ! 

Through weary hours of suffering, 

The cross she was glad to bear, 
The doctrine of Christ adorning, 

The Thorns or the Palm to wear. 
Her patient trust in the Master 

No earthly pain could dim : 
To his will she bowed in meekness, 

Now she is crowned with him. 

Our hearts shrine many a picture 
Of her life-deeds fair and bright ; 

We love to pause and recall them, 
Though she is beyond our sight. 



36 Thoughts Memorial of 

Let us live, as she lived, near Jesus, 

In her footsteps follow on, 
Until when our work is ended, 

We shall meet where she has gone. 

In the early summer morning 

She entered the gates of rest, 
At home, in the Beautiful City, 

With the ransomed, crowned and blessed ! 
Missing, not lost, we'll remember, 

And bow to the chastising rod ; 
In our Father's house we'll find her, 

Safe in the presence of God ! 
BALTIMORE, Oct. 3d, 1888. 



Mary Whitalu Thomas. 37 



Tribute from the Baltimore Auxiliary of 
the McAll Association. 



in memoriam. 

It is difficult to speak or to think of death and 
Mary Whitall Tho77ias, together. 

She was one of those who go in and out be- 
fore us, bearing about in their bodies the marks 
of their immortality; irrefutable arguments that 
"whoso liveth and belie veth in Him shall never 
die." Only when we recall that the death of the 
body means the birth of the soul into a higher 
sphere, can we associate the word death with our 
beloved friend ; and as we stand gazing into the 
heavens, through which she passed from our 
mortal sight, we seem to hear her clear, ringing 
voice, crying back to us, out of the excessive 
brightness, "Behold I am alive forevermore." 



38 Thoughts Memorial of 

In an exceptional sense, all who knew her in 
social life, or who co-operated with her in works 
of charity, or moral reform, have realized in her 
departure a heavy personal loss. Something 
of the brightness of life has vanished with her ; a 
star has left its place in our heavens to shed its 
lustre other-where. 

So rare a combination of physical graces, of 
mental gifts, and of moral endowment, is seldom 
seen. Thus richly furnished, it is not surprising 
that she was continually called to lead her sister- 
women in their high endeavors for the good of 
humanity. 

Five years ago she listened to the eloquent 
French advocates of the McAll Mission, during 
their visit to Baltimore, and her soul was at once 
aflame with enthusiasm for this cause. Some of 
the early meetings for organization were held in 
her parlors, and she was immediately singled out 
for the presidency of the Baltimore Auxiliary of 
the American McAll Association. With her 
arch smile she demurred, pleading that she was 
already "six presidents," but the pressure was so 



Mary Whitali, Thomas. 39 

great that she yielded, and added this also to her 
numerous and weighty responsibilities, outside as 
well as within her own denominational lines. 

We all do know how bravely she stood at her 
post, long after the ominous intimations had 
come to her, of the mortal malady that was to 
bring her earthly labors to an end. 

The crowning grace of Mrs. Thomas, in the 
discharge of her official duties, was her utter 
self -f or getf illness. This means much. Ever- 
more she held up the cause she advocated, be- 
tween herself and her audience. The whole at- 
tention was drawn to the business in hand, and 
never once diverted to herself. 

But these years of brave and fruitful labor, 
under the gaze of the world, drew to a close, and 
it pleased her Master that she should come apart 
and glorify him in the furnace of affliction. Days 
and nights of pain and languishing were ap- 
pointed to her, but grace triumphed, and she was 
able to say affectionately, "Thy will be done." 

And now, shall we of the Baltimore McAll 
Auxiliary drape the banner she bore so bravely, 



40 Thoughts Memorial of 

in mourning and trail it in sorrow ? A thousand 
times, no ! Let us raise it aloft and bear it on- 
ward, trusting that God himself will supply all 
the sore need that we and our cause have sus- 
tained, in the death of our beloved friend and 
President, Mary WhitallTho?nas. 

Baltimore, September 7, 1888. 

"Blessed are they that do His commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and 
may enter in through the gates into the city." — 
Rev. 22, 14 



THE BALTIMORE AUXILIARY OF THE WOM- 
AN'S UNION FOREIGN MISSION- 
ARY SOCIETY 

would respond this morning to the call to mingle 
our love and sympathy with you in this beautiful 
memorial service. Scattered as we have been 
through the summer months, by the sea-shore, or 
the mountain side, we have all heard another 



Mary Wiiitall Thomas. 41 

call, a call that thrilled our hearts to their depths 
— that call which came to our beloved President, 
to lay down her Christ-like work on earth, and to 
"come up higher." 

She heard the call, and has gone from us. We 
are as sheep without a shepherd. We have 
no leader. We can only bow submissively to 
our Father's will, while thanking Him for 
giving her to us for so many years, and 
praising Him for the mercy and love manifested 
to her through the closing months of her beau- 
tiful life. 

He alone can know how we shall miss her 
guidance — her enthusiasm —her good counsel — 
her bright, hopeful words — her deep and unflag- 
ging interest in the Zenana Missions of India and 
all our missionary work — her sweet expositions 
of God's Holy Word and, more than all, her 
prayers, God grant us grace to follow her as 
she followed Christ. 

Mrs. Alex. M. Carter, 

Cor. Sec. IV. U. F. M. S. 
Oct. 3, iti88, 



42 Thoughts Memorial of 



THE EXETER STREET HOME 

FOR FALLEN WOMEN. 



BY MRS. J. P. ELLIOTT. 

Work for outcast women particularly appealed 
to Mary Whitall Thomas' sympathies. I feel 
that no word of mine can convey any adequate 
idea of what she was to us, her fellow workers; 
how she cheered us in our times of discourage- 
ment by her strong faith, bel : eving as she did 
that in the Lord's work there was no such thing 
as failure. 

To the poor, lonely wanderers who, knowing 
not a Saviour's love, and being forsaken by 
friends and kindred, felt that "no man cared for 
their souls" — she was a ministering angel. As 
I speak, I seem to see her as I have so often, her 
soft eyes filled with tears, as she told them of a 
loving Saviour who could not only love them to 
the uttermost, but could keep them from falling, 
and then, anxious to show them human as well 



Mary WhiTAU Thomas. 43 

as divine sympathy, she would gently lay her 
hand on theirs, and assure them of her pity, and 
desire to help them. Her Christ-like patience 
never failed, no matter how often they disap- 
pointed her by yielding to temptation. If they 
returned expressing sorrow, she would always 
say, "We must give them another chance." I 
am sure there are many among them to-day who 
could say, "She lead me to repentance and to 
Christ. 

To me, one of the most striking features of her 
ministry for others was that there was no soul, 
however disfigured by sin and misery, but that 
she could still see something beautiful in it, some- 
thing worthy of love. Yet I have often heard 
her say that she had not by nature a loving dis- 
position, but that her Heavenly Father had given 
it to her in answer to prayer. She never failed 
to realize and to acknowledge her entire depend- 
ance on the Lord, and had perfect faith that he 
would supply all her needs, and was most earnest 
in endeavoring to persuade her fellow Christians 
to trust Him, and go forward fearlessly in Chris- 



44 Thoughts Memorial of 

tian work, saying, "All Christians may be chan- 
nels, and channels to be effective must be open 
at both ends." Open towards God, that they may 
be filled with this love and power and open towards 
man that they may tell to others what great 
things He had done for them. Her place we can 
never fill, but let us each one strive to carry on 
the work she has left, looking unto Jesus, and 
not fearing to put ourselves side by side with the 
despised and neglected of the world. 

Thus keeping in the midst of life, we realize, 
as she did, the truth of Goethe's words, "Talent 
develops itself in soltitude." The talent of prayer, 
of faith "Character in the stream of life." 



Mary Whitaix Thomas. 45 



HER CHURCH WORK. 



BY M. S. THOMAS. 



I haYe noticed that those who have spoken 
to-day for the various associations of which 
Mary Whitall Thomas was a member, have each 
dwelt upon what she was to them, the inspiration 
of her presence, her love, and sympathy. 

And yet I cannot help feeling that to us, in her 
own Meeting, where her own spiritual life devel- 
oped, she was more in every way. We knew 
her experiences as they came to her, for she told 
us of them, in order that we too might lay hold 
with her, of the good things that are ours, in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. In speaking of her church 
work as a member of the society of Friends, it 
is necessary to add a few words of explanation. 
For as you know, we, as Friends, lay special em- 
phasis on the fact, that each child of the Lord 



46 Thoughts Memorial of 

has a service for the Master. We hold (not 
theoretically) but practically the truth; that 
"upon my servants, and my handmaids will I 
pour out my spirit," and we believe, that both 
women and men are called to preach the Gos- 
pel, not only privately but publicly These 
truths Mary Whitall Thomas held, not from 
early education, only, but as deliberate convic- 
tions. It was therefore no surprise to her, soon 
after her conversion, to feel the call of the Lord, 
to testify of His goodness in our meetings. To 
her the ministry of the Gospel was no bondage, 
but a service of joy. Often has she said to me 
"I sit down in a meeting feeling that I am noth- 
ing in myself, but the words come to me "Out of 
you shall flow rivers of living water." Some of 
her expressions we well remember, for they came 
often from her lips, but as some one remarked 
"They never seemed old, but always sounded 
fresh when she said them." 

She loved to use the simile of an electric ma- 
chine, saying "You must take hold with the two 
hands of your will and your faith, or the power 



Mary Whitall Thomas. 4? 

will not flow into you." Again, "A channel 
must be open at both ends, Godward and man- 
ward." 

Her preaching was full of inspiration and she 
loved to dwell on the mighty power of her Lord 
and Saviour, on the crucifixion of the body of sin: 
on the victory of the resurrection life, in Christ. 
What the Lord Jesus was to her, she knew He 
was waiting to be to every soul. 

To her there were no hopeless cases. She be- 
lieved that every soul was a visited soul, that 
God had been beforehand with everybody, and 
therefore when she carried the message of salva- 
tion to the sinner, however degraded she knew that 
it was in harmony with the work of the spirit. 

She believed that the Lord Jesus is able to 
save to the uttermost all who come unto God by 
Him. Let us thank God for her life, for her wit- 
ness, for what she was to us; if she could speak 
to us now, I think she would say, "Yield your- 
selves, to the Lord Jesus Christ, your Saviour. 
Consecrate all that you have and are, to Him, 
expect Him to use you, and to give you the Holy 



48 Thoughts Memorial of 

Spirit to enable you to do effectual work for 
Him.'' Let us follow her in her expectation of 
blessed results. 

" For right, is right, since God, is God, 
And right, the day must'win, 
To doubt, would be disloyalty, 
To falter would be sin ! " 



The Board of the Female House of Refuge, of 
which Mrs. Thomas was a member, sent ajnote 
regretting that no one was able^to represent them 
at the memorial services. 



Mary Whitall Thomas. 49 

RESOLVED, 

BY THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OE THE BALTIMORE 
ORPHAN ASYI.UM '. 

That in the death of Mrs. Thomas, our be- 
loved Vice-President, and of Mrs. Williams, our 
much honored manager, the Orphan Asylum 
has sustained a most grievous and, to our eyes, 
an almost irreparable loss. It seems a strange 
providence that has called away from us two 
such beneficient characters. Mrs. Williams, for 
eight yt ars, has been one of our most earnest 
managers, and one to whom we have always 
turned as to one of God's chosen. 

For more than a quarter of a century, Mrs. 
Thomas has been one of the leading spirits of 
our institution; so that, when in 1883, Mrs. Bay- 
nard, the long time president, and Miss Smith, 
the vice-president, were both taken from the 
Asylum, it was the unanimous wish that Mrs. 
Thomas should become one of the presiding of- 
ficers, and we who have been permitted to serve 
with her, shall ever hold the memory of our in- 
tercourse as a sacred legacy. 



50 Thoughts Memorial of 

Mrs. Thomas' striking characteristic in her 
treatment of all questions affecting our institution, 
has been love for the little ones committed to our 
care; belief in them, and in God's love and care 
for them. We shall ever remember her beauti- 
ful countenance aglow with affection, when she 
has sometimes been called upon to reprove an 
unruly inmate. 

Her earnest prayers still live with us. Her un- 
feigned cheerfullness, her deep and abiding faith 
in God's love for the smallest and poorest of his 
creatures, are to us a precious heritage from the 
past, and we believe that more than one seed 
sown by her has taken root in our institution, 
and, we hope, in the great harvest, will bring 
forth fruit even more than a hundred fold. Now, 
in what fitting words shall we express our sor- 
row and gratitude for those elect ones with whom 
we have taken such sweet counsel ? 

Let us rather rejoice that they have been per- 
mitted to come among us, and pray the great 
Father of all that others may be raised up in 



Mary \Vhitai,i, Thomas. 51 

some measure to take their places, and to guide 
and watch over this institution. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 
sent to the friends of the deceased. 
Mary W. Wilson, Sec, 

Baltimore Orphan Asylum. 



Remarks of Mrs. I. Alex. Shriver in presenting 
the resolutions adopted by the board of mana- 
agers of the Baltimore Orphan Asylum, upon the 
death of Mrs. James Carey Thomas (the late 
vice-president), and Mrs. P. C. Williams, mana- 
ager u To the Womans Christian Temperance 
Union :" 

What words can be compared with those 
which inspiration addresses to those who mourn 
the loss of Christian friends. 

What possible comfort can there be in the 
gloom and mystery of death, save in the positive 
teaching of the new Testament. 

The valley of the shadow of death is very dark, 
but the face of Jesus Christ shines directly through 
it. 



52 Thoughts Memorial of 

It is not an adequate consolation to be remind- 
ed of the admirable and Christian qualities of our 
dear friends at the moment they are taken 
away from us. The very fact that they are un- 
doubtedly prepared for Heaven makes their 
society the more valuable and needful to us here, 
and the sense of our loss when they are gone the 
deeper and keener. Now are we forced to lay 
hold for anchorage in the storm of the great arti- 
cles of our Christian faith. Christ comes even as 
He promised in His own time, in His own way, 
and takes to himself those whom He has re- 
deemed, that they may be with Him where He 
is. They have gone to be with Him, whom not 
having seen, they have loved, receiving the end 
of their faith — the salvation of their souls. 

In the Catacombs of Rome, there is a tomb 
with this inscription : " A sweet Christian Soul." 
I borrow these words as descriptive of the dear 
friends for whom we mourn. They certainly 
were sincere disciples of Jesus Christ, and are 
associated in our memory only as pure, true and 
attentive to every Christian duty. 



Mary Whi?AI,i< Thomas. 53 

God has honored our Asylum for the Orphan 
by frequent visitations and translations. This 
home on the earth and that home in Heaven are 
brought and blended together. A part of one 
number have gone ; a part still lingers here. God 
grant that we who wait may live as gently and 
die as safely as those who have preceded us, and 
that at last, beyond the dark and narrow defile 
of death, we may join them in that house eternal 
in the Heavens, where there is no more death, 
neither sorrow or crying, and where God shall 
wipe away all tears from our eyes. 



54 Thoughts Memorial of 



MEMORIAL. 



As bearer of this tribute from the Young 
Women's Christian Association, appointed to tell 
what Mrs. Thomas was in that work, I can but 
repeat what has already been said, for it is just 
the same story, just the same taking hold at the 
beginning, when the work was really no work at 
all, but only an idea and a desire conceived in 
the heart of one earnest young woman of Balti- 
more, to bring together the young working 
women of the city for mutual help and encour- 
agement ; to ascertain their views, and to find 
out how far it would be possible to improve their 
condition. 

And in this, as in all these other societies, the 
originators of the movement turned immediately 
and instinctively to Mrs. Thomas for sympathy 
and support; and here, as elsewhere, she gave 
fully and freely time, interest, effort — for she was 



Mary Whitaix Thomas. 55 

not one to withold her support until the success 
of an undertaking should be assured. 

Upon the organization of the Y. W. C. A., 
Mrs. Thomas was made first vice-president, a 
position she held until a year ago, and through- 
out the weary days of struggle for existence, that 
difficult time of evolving a complete organic body 
from an idea and an aspiration, Mrs. Thomas 
gave her invaluable assistance. 

Busy as she was, she always found time to 
meet any special demand for special service, and 
all felt under all circumstances that her presence 
was strength, her counsel was wisdom, her very 
countenance was encouragement. 

It was more than once my privilege to serve on 
special committees with Mrs. Thomas, and while 
endeavoring to discover the secret of her strength 
and of her influence, recognizing, of course, that 
it was chiefly due to her singk ness of purpose, 
her entire consecration to the one service, yet I 
could but feel that it was in a large measure also 
due to her independence of prejudice, her abso- 
lute freedom from all fine-spun theories concern- 



56 Thoughts Memorial of 

ing methods of work. She was bound and ham- 
pered by none of these. 

' 4 Work in your own way, only be sure that you 
work !" That seemed to be a cardinal article of 
her creed, and so she was willing to accept sugges- 
tions by whomsoever proposed and, accepting the 
necessity for experiments, she was willing they 
should be made — best of all, she never reproached 
one with a failure her ripe judgment may have 
foreseen ; never suggested, when the thing was 
done, that she could have advised "a more ex- 
cellent way." 

Only one broad principle seemed to direct and 
control Mrs. Thomas, viz. : The Master's work 
mztstbe done, and the harvest that is ripe to-day 
must be gathered to-day, else it will fail to the 
ground and be lost. 

One further thought is suggested. How dif- 
ferent would have been the record published here 
to-day. Ay, how different the record of many a 
life whose story we shall never know ; but God 
knows ; how different must it all have been had 
Mrs. Thomas not taken up her work while still 



Mary Whitall Thomas. 57 

a young woman. Strike but one year from this 
period of active service and what a loss ! What 
a loss ! And yet with many of us, our span of 
life might be greatly shortened and no one beyond 
the walls of our own homes would sustain the 
slightest loss. 

Mrs. Thomas, we must remember, was yet in 
the prime of years when this record closes, and 
the recording angel begins a new chapter in the 
volume of the Book of Life, the record of her 
life and service in the company of those who 
see the Lord face to face, while they serve before 
his throne. 

And shall we not glean from this beautiful life 
a lesson and a message for young women? 

Does it not seem as if the Master had come 
into His Vineyard, and there had seen one doing 
the work of fifty, ay, of a hundred, while the hun- 
dred stood by A'ith folded hands. And seeing 
this He had said, "I will call away this my faith- 
ful servant, and let us see if these others, these who 
have entered my Vineyard, who are called by 



58 Thoughts Memorial of 

my name, let us see if they will take up the work 
she lays down." 

And so the faithful servant entered into the 
joy of her Lord, the "rest that remaineth to the 
people of God." 

But the work is yet to be done. And who 
will do it ? 

Mrs. Robt. Dorsey. 



Mary Whitall Thomas. 59 



HYMN. 



NEARER HOME. 



One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er — 

I am nearer home to-day 
Than I ever have been before. 

Nearer my Father's house, 
Where the many mansions be ; 

Nearer the great white throne, 
Nearer the crystal sea. 

Nearer the bound of life, 

Where we lay our burdens down ; 
Nearer leaving the cross, 

Nearer gaining the crown. 

But lying darkly between, 

Winding down through the night, 
Is the deep and unknown stream, 

That leads at last to the light. 



60 Thoughts Memorial of 

Father, perfect my trust ! 

Strengthen the might of my faith ; 
Let me feel as I would when I stand 

On the rock of the shore of death : 

Feel as I would when my feet 
Are slipping over the brink : 

For it may be I'm nearer home — 
Nearer now than I think ! 



The services concluded with the Benediction. 



Mary Wiiitaix Thomas. 61 



PART II. 



REPRINTED FROM THE MEMORIAL NUMBER OF THE 
WHITE RIBBON HERAl/D, AUGUST, 1888. 



62 Thoughts Memorial of 



MARY WHITALL THOMAS. 



'Entered into the fullness of joy" on the 2d of 7th mo., 1S8S, 
aged 52 years. 



"Death is the end of Death." 

— F. D. MAURICE. 

Where is the victory, 

Death, thou art claiming ? 
How does the arrow speed 

That thou wert aiming ? 

It can not reach to her, 

Only her prison; 
Glad through its riven door 

She has arisen. 

As thou wert aiming it 

(Jesus commanding) 
He to receive her home 

Eager was standing. 



Mary Whitaix Tiiomas. 03 

She with like eagerness 

Hastes to the meeting, 

Never one thought of dread 

Shadows her greeting. 

"I did not cure thy pain, 
(She hears him say it), 
Longed for thine entrance here, 
Would not delay it. 

"Illness and pain became 
Chariots that bore thee 
Quick from the toils of earth 
Into my glory. 

"Seeing my unveiled face, 
Freed from earth's fetter, 
Come, for a service waits, 
Fuller and better." 

"Now in thy beauty, Lord, 
Mine eyes behold Thee, 
Find thou art more than all 
Thought ever told me. 

"Death is the end of death, 
Death no more liveth, 
Jesus, my risen Christ, 
Victory giveth." 



64 Thoughts Memorial of 

Thus in the light of God 
Serves she forever, 

And, without weariness, 
Rests in endeavor. 

Love grows not less by love, 

So her affection 
For us she leaves behind 

Reaches perfection. 

Though all we see of her 

Coldly is lying, 
Though we hear not her song, 

Glad and undying. 

She is not lost to us, 

Only preceding, 
Soon we shall see her in 

Glory exceeding. 

All that we knew T of her 
Beauty and sweetness 

Still is forever hers 
In its completeness. 

Whose is the victory ? 

Death, hast thou gained it? 
No ! with the risen Christ 

She has obtained it. 



R. H. T. 



Mary Whitai.l Thomas. 65 



MEMORIAL NOTICE. 



Mary Whitall Thomas; daughter of John M. 
and Mary Whitall of Philadelphia, was born in 
Germantown in 1836, and came to Baltimore in 
1855, on her marriage with Dr. James Carey 
Thomas, of this city. At that time she was 
deeply interested in religious subjects, and at the 
entertainments given in her honor as a young 
and lovely bride.her chief delight was to find 
opportunities to converse with her husband's fath- 
er, whose clear Christian faith was very soon the 
means, under God's blessing, of bringing her to 
the knowledge of the forgiveness of sin and to a 
sense of acceptance with God. She at once be- 
gan to confess her Lord and to work for Him, 
and in the midst of increasing family cares and 
her duties as a devoted wife and mother, she 
found time to give her help to many religious 
and philanthropic undertakings. The words of 



66 , Thoughts Memorial of 

her address at the W. C. T. U. State Convention 
in 1882 were eminently true of herself: "We 
must consecrate ourselves to this service ; it is the 
work of the day. Do not neglect the duties of 
the family, but add something to them ; work 
for souls ; come face to face with humanity. You 
can touch some life every day if you are only 
faithful to God; you may say, 'I have no gift,' but 
if it is a gift, ask for it and you can get it." Born 
and brought up in a Society which recognizes 
the equality of the sexes before God, she believed 
that, although a woman, she was as likely to be 
called on to speak for her Master as if she had 
been a man. She went further, and as she herself 
said, she ''asked for a gift," and how many souls 
in every class of society bless God to-day that 
she did so. She was especially interested in the 
Home for Fallen Women on Exeter St., and in 
all other efforts to raise her own sex. The injus- 
tice of many of the laws made by men for 
the government of women aroused her sym- 
pathies. She believed that women's work 
should be judged by the same standards and 



Mary YYiiitall Thomas. 67 

paid at the same rate as men's work, and, in 
short, that they should in every way have equal 
rights with men. 

At the time of theWoman's Crusade she was one 
of the three who called the first meeting held by 
the women of Maryland in the temperance cause, 
and from that day the W. C. T. U. became an 
important part of her life-work. 

When Mrs. McKendree Reilley, State Presi- 
dent of the W. C. T. U., removed from Mary- 
land, Mrs. Thomas was elected in her place. 
This was in 1^79, and she was President from 
this time until her death. There were then only 
six Unions; viz: the Baltimore Union; Union 
Square; Columbia Ave.; Broadway Union; 
Montgomery Union, and one Local Union in 
Baltimore Co. Barely nine years had passed 
and at her death there were nearly two hundred 
Local Unions, whilst the departments of work 
engaged in by the W. C. T. U. had increased 
from five in 1879 to twenty-five in 18S7. In all this 
Mrs. Thomas was not merely the nominal head. 
Her personal interest and encouragement were 



68 Thoughts Memorial of 

felt in every branch, guiding and cheering on the 
workers, and until a few months before her death, 
she was actively and constantly engaged in it 
herself as President of the Baltimore City Union. 
In 1882 the Tuesday morning Consecration meet- 
ing was begun, and here again she recognized an 
open door into which she gladly entered. At 
these meetings much was said of Jesus Christ, 
and of His power and willingness to save. Mrs. 
Thomas believed in definite steps in the Chris- 
tian life ; her own experience had been clear and 
definite. Long before this time she deliberately 
and with her whole heart renounced all right to 
herself, and had promised the Lord that hence- 
forth, so soon as she recognized His will, she 
would do it without question or delay. This 
promise she was enabled by His grace to keep. 
From time to time she had fresh views of the 
Lord's will in her service for others, and saw the 
strength for each fresh need in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. These experiences were to her the en- 
trance gates into ever higher planes of Christain 
living, and she found as she advanced that the 



Mary YViiitai.i, Thomas. 69 

Lord Jesus was more and more a mighty and 
victorious Savior. He never disappointed her, al- 
though her expectations far outreached those of 
ordinary Christians. Therefore her mouth was 
continually rilled with His praises, and the Tues- 
day morning meetings became the means of lead- 
ing many to follow in the path of freedom and 
joy which she herself was treading. Their influ- 
ence was widely felt in every department of the 
temperance work. Consecrated women, who had 
ceased to say "I cannot" or "I will not," came 
forward to do God's will, looking to him for 
strength. 

Mrs. Thomas, like her sister, Hannah Whitall 
Smith, was a great Bible student. Her Wednes- 
day morning Bible Class at the Friends' Meeting 
House, corner Eutaw and Monument streets, 
embraced members of many different denomin- 
ations. It was not confined to the earnestly re- 
ligious, for many of the society ladies of Baltimore 
loved to attend it. For twelve years before her 
death she was a Recorded Minister in the So- 
ciety of Friends, and, amidst her rrmltifarious en- 



70 Thoughts Memorial of 

gagements, she always took a prominent part in 
the work of her own church. Space forbids the 
enumeration of her labors in the Foreign Mission 
cause; in Sunday School work; as Clerk of Bal- 
timore Yearly Meeting, (Women) ; in the Balti- 
more McAll Association, in the Young Woman's 
Christian Association, &c, &c, &c. 

But any notice of Mary Whitall Thomas would 
be misleading which gave an impression of her 
simply as a worker. In her home life she was 
most lovely. Eight children, four sons and four 
daughters, grew up around her, and two others 
had been called away in infancy to the better 
land. She made home a happy place for them 
by her constant sympathy in all their interests, 
encouraging them in the pursuit of good by her 
enthusiasm, and seeking to impress them with 
her own high and pure ideals. She never allow T - 
ed her outside engagements to interfere w r ith her 
duties to her family, and if any of them were sick 
everything else was laid aside that she might 
give her undivided attention to the loved one. 
She was always ready to share the interests of 



Mary Wiiitall Thomas. 71 

her numerous relatives and friends. How often 
have we found her writing at her favorite library 
table, and seen the busy pen laid aside, and for the 
next half hour she has been absorbed in our own 
private affairs as if she had nothing in the world 
to do but to share them. She seemed to have 
no self to take up her time, and thus she was able 
to manifest the beauty of a "heart at leisure from 
itself to soothe and sympathize." But we must not 
longer dwell upon the many lovely points of her 
character. Her work on earth, though none sus- 
pected it, was rapidly nearing its conclusion. She 
presided at the State Convention last October, 
apparently in the fullness of robust health, but a 
few weeks later came the news like a thunder 
clap, that malignant disease had fastened upon 
her and that she was beyond the reach of human 
help. Her public life was ended and during the 
few remaining months only her own family and a 
few intimate friends were able to see her. To 
one of these she said that her illness had been a 
most happy and peaceful time, in which every- 
thing had been made so easy for her. Her days 



72 Thoughts Memorial of 

were passed in sweet communion with the Lord, 
to whom she committed herself, soul and body. 
To anoiher friend she said she was willing if it 
was His will to be raised up again. She thought 
she could serve Him better now than before; she 
w 7 ould be able to enter into sympathy so much 
better with those in suffering, since she had her- 
self known weariness and pain. Her active inter- 
est in the W. C. T. U. continued to the last, and 
she still fulfilled her duties as State President 
from her sick room. She greatly rejoiced at the 
starting of our State Paper, and busied herself in 
comparing sample copies of other State papers, 
&c. She selected the motto for the paper and 
contributed a Greeting to the first number. She 
called attention to the fact that the words "of 
Maryland" had been accidentally omitted from 
the heading, saying that the paper belonged to 
the whole State and she wanted all the County 
Unions and all the country members to feel that 
they had a share in it. Through the loving kind- 
ness of her Heavenly Father she was spared the 
pain, and all the more distressing symptoms 



Mary YYihtau. Thomas. 73 

which usually accompany her disease. Three- 
weeks before her death she was taken to the 
beautiful summer home which she had loved so 
well, at Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., and there, amid 
the tender ministrations of her husband and chil- 
dren, she passed away peacefully and without a 
struggle, on Monday morning, the 2nd of July. 
On the preceding Thursday, when very weak, 
the last letter relating to the Temperance work 
was written at her direction. On Saturday morn- 
ing, feeling a little better she was able to speak 
some farewell woids to her children, and 
afterwards expressed a wish to add a codicil 
to her will. The addition was a Legacy of 
§500 for the new State Headquarters. It had long 
been the wish of her heart that such a building 
should be obtained on Baltimore Street, 
where Gospel meetings may be held every night 
in the week, and where Lectures to working peo- 
ple, a cooking school for girls, the Free Kinder- 
garten and other similar work may be carried on. 
Almost the la-t thing that she was conscious 
of was the receipt of a cable message from her 



74 Thoughts Memorial of 

sister, Mrs. Smith, from London. It said, ''Psalm 
48: 14." The verse was read to her, "This God 
is our God forever and ever. He will be our 
guide unto death." Her husband added, "And 
Jesus will receive thee," to which she responded 
with a smile, "Will receive me.' 

The funeral tooK place in Baltimore on Thurs- 
day, July 5th, according to the usages of the So- 
ciety of Friends. Amongst other exercises, the 
15th chapter of first Corinthians was read, 
and the following lines were repeated : 

O blessed are the dead in Christ ! 
Why should we weep, for them ? 

* ■* * * * * -x- 

Seem they to feel no touch of love 
That o'er their icy brow T may move 

With tearful whispers warm ? 
"Fis that upon the spirit's ear 
All Heaven's eternal music clear 
Is bursting, where there comes not near 

One breath of sorrow's storm. 



Mary Wiiitau Thomas. 75 

give them up to Him whose own 

Those dear beloved ones are, 
Lo ! on their waking sight He bursts, 

The bright and morning star, 
We follow too, ye loved ones gone, 
We follow faint but fearless on 

To where the Lamb, once slain, 
Forever now enthroned on high 
Shall reign, and wipe from every eye 
The tears that through eternity 

Shall never flow again. 

Praise was offered for the victory which had 
been granted her through Jesus Christ, and testi- 
mony was borne to her Christian character and 
to the message of her life. The interment was 
private. The grave had been beautifully lined 
with two kinds of smilax, and looked like a cool 
green bed under the blaze of the July sun. Upon 
the new-made grave were laid the palms and lil- 
ies sent by the W. C. T. U., with other flowers. 
As the family retired a stranger approached and 
laid some Easter lilies upon the bright smilax 
covering. 

So she has left us. She always longed for 



76 Thoughts Memorial of 

heaven, even midst earth's brightest scenes, and 
now in the meridian of her strength, when life 
seemed fullest she has left it all and gone 
in gladly, joyfully to be forever with her Lord. 
We must not weep for her, but whilst her 
words and deeds are fresh in our memories 
let us try to gather up the lessons that she 
taught us. Surely now, more than ever 
before, in the State of Maryland, our Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union is bound to go 
forward to victory. She who has left us has 
emphasized so strongly in her words and in 
her life that "None need be weak when the Lord 
Jehovah is our strength," that we can never 
forget it. She has told us of the mighty power 
of God that is for us, and how, laying hold with 
the two hands of obedience and faith, we may 
every one receive this power. She has told us ■ 
all that is necessary in a channel is that it should 
be open at both ends, and that we may become 
channels of blessing if we but take care to keep 
our eyes open Godward and manward ; she has 
told us that God is on the side of righteousness, 



Mary YYhitall Thomas. 77 

and that he has given us a Saviour who is able 
to save ; that no one has to remain bound when 
Christ is waiting to set us free, and that with God 
on our side we may go out to the rescue oi suf- 
fering, sinning humanity, sure that victory is be- 
fore us. In this faith she lived, and the precious 
legacy oi it remains to us. The Lord Gave 
and the Lord Hath Taken Away ; Blessed 
be the Name of the Lord. 



78 Thoughts Memorial of 



MISS WILLARD'S TRIBUTE. 



On the 2d of July at her summer home among 
the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania, Mrs. 
Mary Whitall Thomas, president of the W. C.T. 
U. of Maryland, passed from this earthly life to 
her native land on high. She had been for many 
years the president of our white ribboners in 
Maryland, and was, like her sister, Mrs. Hannah 
Whitall Smith, a born leader, which means that 
she was one whom her comrades love to follow. 
She never said, "Do thou go," but always, "Let 
us come/' 

Mrs. Thomas was a preacher of the Friends' 
Society, and one of the most acceptable and in- 
fluential in the United States. Inheriting large 
wealth from her father, who was a prosperous 
Philadelphia merchant, and living in a home of 
beauty and refinement, the wife of James Carey 
Thomas, one of Baltimore's most prominent 



MARY Whitau, Thomas. 79 

physicians and Christian men, Mrs. Thomas was 
the picture of an almost ideal wife, mother and 
"lady bountiful/ 1 as one saw her in her own home 
surrounded by her beautiful and accomplished 
children. For years Mrs. Thomas conducted a 
meeting for Bible study once a week in the 
Quaker meeting house, at which gathered the 
most influential and accomplished women of the 
city from all religious communions, but, perhaps, 
notably the Episcopalians. No presence was more 
familiar in the beautiful city of monuments than 
that noble, well built form, so alert and yet so full 
of dignity, that handsome face with waving hair, 
broad brow, eyes keen but kindly, and smile as 
sweet as summer." There was no good word or 
work that could not count on Mrs.Thomas. She 
was devotedly religious ; it was all her life to be 
a Christian; she knew no other character, would 
have repudiated any other reputation. No state 
president is more enshrined in the hearts of lov- 
ing and loyal followers, and none in all our great 
union has been surrounded by a more capable or 
faithful group of co-adjutors. At the last State 



80 Thoughts Memorial of 

Convention I was present and saw no diminution 
in the power and patience of my heroic friend. 
Her smile was just as sunny, her voice as firm 
and clear, her intrepidity as notable, but she 
knew even then, though none of us did, that she 
was stricken by a disease that physicians had 
pronounced mortal. She did not yield to it, she 
would not speak of it, she believed the infinite 
power could bear her above it, and so with won- 
derful faith and unspeakable gentleness she pass- 
ed the days until the sweet transition came that 
gave her to those whom she had loved and lost 
awhile. She is gone from us in the magnificent 
maturity of her influence and her affections ; she 
who "allured to brighter worlds, has led the 
way." — Union Signal, 



Mary Wiiitai.i. Thomas. 81 



MARYLAND'S PROMOTED PRESIDENT. 



E. T. G. 



Among the many beautiful floral tributes at 
the funeral of Mrs. Mary Whitall Thomas, was 
one of marked significance sent by the Maryland 
W. C. T. U. of which she was President. It con- 
s : sted of two large branches of feathery palm 
crossed by a royal white Japanese lily, the stems 
tied together by the white ribbon which she loved 
and wore so faithfully for years. Accompanying 
it were the following lines: 

O, strong, sweet soul ; for such brief season held 
In mesh of that which we, speech stumbling, call 
The web of life — on poured, in costliest 
Benediction, from a vase so rare that, 
At the first rude touch of Fate it shattered 
Lies, as potsherd at our feet, whilst thou, on 
Swift, safe sweep of upward-circling wing, hast 
vSped beyond the stars ! 

We bid thee ' joy !" 



8^ Thoughts Memorial of 

From 
Out the arid, toil-worn paths of those less 
Single-eyed than thou, who, tortured by unrest, 
Had, but for thee, lost chart and compass, 
Guide-board, and "the way"— we bid thee "joy !" 

Within thy folded hands the victor's palm 

We lay ; and on thy brave, true heart a lily fair ; 

And round about their straight, strong stems we 

bind 
The pure "white ribbon" thou hast loved so well ! 
And this we do, that when we lay thy body 
In the arms of Mother Earth, and leave it 
With the mystery of Death— all men may know 
From what high court thy spirit took its flight. 

Then turn we to thy cross, that cross which, sign 
And symbol of the life Divine, thy 
Feeble woman's hand has borne so surely 
Through the battle's strife and held so high 
Above the smoke, that angels, bending from 
The battlements above, have caught and held 
Its blazonry of Love, 'till He in whose 
Dear name thy God-like work was done has seen 
And claimed it for His own ! 

FINIS. 



